صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني
[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

FROM the commencement of the PORTFOLIO, the tide of Public approbation has evidently been in its favour, and we feel both proud and grateful for the distinguished rank of our little work amid the Hebdomidal Press of the day; for this we are indebted, principally, to our numerous and able Correspondents, whose unremitting exertions would alone insure success to any Publication,

Since the Work has come into the hands of the present Proprietor, neither labour or expense have been spared, to render it fit for general inspection; the light reader will find a fund of entertainment and instruction; the operative members of society will perceive they are not forgotten, our pages abounding with information and amusement for their perusal; the more serious and sedate readers, and the lovers of Romance and Poetry are all remembered: in short, our pages are devoted to Variety, and like the Bee that extracts the honey from the flowers of nature, we distil all the sweets from the "flowers of Literature" to please and edify our friends.

A few words on the utility of Periodical Literature may not be amiss; in an age like the present, when mankind seem with one accord to acknowledge the blessings of Education, it would be useless to say much on this subject we cannot believe there is any man, especially an Englishman, who does not from his heart admit the advantages arising from it: where that bright luminary has appeared, the errors of superstitution, of ignorance and of avarice have banished, the light which it sheds on the Earth, dispelled the darkness of ages, and the bright Sun of freedom, of love, righteousness and wisdom rose in the heavens, and now shines on us in all its own effulgency, in all the glory of UNIVERSAL EDUCATION. To the gradual dawn of information, men owed their rescue from the sins of Paganisim, and from the Errors of Tyranny; by Education we were taught the value of religion and fredom, it has polished our manners, refined our merals, and taught man "to do unto others, as he would they should do unto him.”

It must be obvious therefore that Periodical Publications, both from

their intrinsic worth, and the trifling charge at which they can be obtained, are highly qualified for inculcating these principles of information and refinement already enumerated; and we appeal to the Public, whether the PORTFOLIO which has received so great a share of their interest and support, has been backward in forwarding the great work of ERUDITION and UNIVERSAL EDUCATION? We now close our Third Volume, pledging ourselves to preserve that high name, our strenuous efforts have attained, and promising our Readers that the forth coming Numbers shall evince that pains, expence and labour are matters of secondary importance in rendering the PORTFOLIO the the leading Periodical of the day. A: Merol

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][graphic][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors]

OF

ENTERTAINING AND INSTRUCTIVE VARIETIES

IN

History, Literature, the Fine Arts, &c.

[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][merged small]

CAPTAIN PARRY'S

SECOND VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY

TO THE

POLAR REGIONS.

NOTWITHSTANDING the great interest excited in the public mind by the return of Captain Parry, and the curiosity naturally manifested by all to be made acquainted with the particulars of his Expedition-the publication of his work at four guineas and a half, places it without the reach of the majority of the reading public. Many detailed extracts have been given in the newspapers, &c., but thinking a connected sketch of the proceedings of the expedition from the time of its departure till its return, would be much more acceptable to our readers, we have engaged ourselves in perusing the volumes, tracVOL, III,

ing their course, and extracting the principal incidents, and hope our labours will not prove unacceptable to our Readers :

The discoveries made by the Expedition under Capt. Parry's command in the years 1819---20, being such as to afford a strong presumption in favour of the existence of a passage from the northwestern coast of America into the Pacific Ocean, the Lords of the Admiralty commissioned the ships Fury and Hecla, of which Capt. Parry again received the chief command.

All articles of equipment for these two vessels were made precisely alike, so that in case of accident the material might be transferred from ship to ship, and at once applied to its proper use. Every possible suggestion for the comfort of the officers and men was immediately carried into execution. A thick

No, 61,

cork lining was placed all round the ships' sides, &c. shutters of the same material were fitted to every window, so as to completely surround the inhabited parts of the ships during the winter months with

left their moorings in the Thames. Towards noon, on the 2d of July, they made the ice, and on the 16th, fell in with three of the Hudson's Bay Company's vessels, by which they sent their

were each Substance, and they last letters to their friends in England. supplied with a stove

of admirable contrivance, heating the entire vessel by, currents of warm air, and consuming only at the rate of a bushel and a quarter of coals in the twenty-four hours. An ingenious apparatus was also furnished for reducing the snow to a fluid state, so as to supply the crew with sixty-five gallons of pure water daily. For the victualling department the ships received, two pounds of preserved meat and a quart of vegetable soup per day for each man, and were furnished for three years; in lieu of bisenit, flour was taken, to be made into bread as required; and the spirits, lemon juice, and vinegar, were supplied in a very concentrated state, to diminish their bulk, and to prevent their being so easily frozen. The Nautilus Transport also received orders to accompany the vessels to the margin of the ice, and to take extra stores, twenty live bullocks, and a quantity of coals, thus completely equipping the expedition for three years.

The instructions to Captain Parry from the Lords of the Admiralty, bear date the 27th of April, 1821, and in these he is directed, if he should be successful, to proceed to Kamschatka and Canton, and after having refitted and refreshed, to lose no time in returning to England. But in the event of no tidings being received of him by the close of the year 1823, a vessel should be despatched, with a supply of provisions, so as to be at Behring's Straits about September, 1824, which assistance he would avail himself of if possible. Captain Franklin having also been appointed to explore the North Coast of America from the mouth of the Copper Mine River, Captain Parry was instructed, if he should reach that coast, to mark his progress by the erection of flag-staffs on the high lands and to bury at the foot of each staff a bottle, containing such information as may be useful to Captain Franklin, and such particulars respecting his own proceedings as he might think proper; corresponding instructions being given to Capt. Franklin to leave similar notices at any convenient parts of the coast he may dis

[blocks in formation]

Three days afterwards they heard voices on shore, which they soon knew to be those of the Esquimaux coming off to the ship. With these they drove some hard bargains for oil, which they were in need of, for the inhabitants of this part of Hudson's Strait seem to have acquired by an annual intercourse with our ships for nearly a hundred years, most of the vices attending a first intercourse with the civilized world.

The ships continued in their course, and it was in the first days of August that the Captain considered himself as proceeding on ground hitherto unexplored. On the 19th, many of the officers landed on Southampton Island, and some of the party confidently reported that they had heard the shouting of natives, though they could not meet with them, for never having before communicated with Europeans, they were, perhaps, scared at their approach.

"On the 10th of September, in running along the coast with a fresh and favourable breeze, we observed three persons standing on a hill, and, as we continued our course, they followed us at full speed along the rocks. Having sailed into a small sheltered bay, went up, accompanied by Mr. Bushnan, to meet them on the hills above

us.

[ocr errors]

In sailing along the shore, we had heard them call out loudly to us, and observed them frequently lift something which they held in their hands; but on coming up to them they remained so perfectly mute and motionless, that, accustomed as we had been to the noisy importunities of their more sophisticated brethren, we could scarcely believe them to be Esquimaux. There was, besides a degree of lankness in the faces of the two men, the very reverse of the plump round oily cheeks of those we.. had before seen.

"Their countenances at the time impressed me with the idea of Indian rather than of Esquimaux features; but this variety of physiognomy we after'wards found not to be uncommon among these people.

"The men appeared to be about forty and twenty years of age, and were accompanied by a good-looking and goodhumoured boy of nine or ten. They each held in their hand a seal-skin case

[ocr errors]
« السابقةمتابعة »